Democrats urge IRS watchdog to find out why a top lawyer who clashed with White House left his job

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats want a watchdog at the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the recent departure of a high-ranking IRS attorney who clashed with President Donald Trump’s White House after the attorney raised concerns about influence over taxpayer audits.

Kenneth Kies, an assistant Treasury Department secretary and acting chief counsel of the IRS, left both roles earlier this month. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kies had warned that political officials risked breaching a law that bars the executive branch from interfering in tax enforcement by starting or stopping audits or investigations.

Kies is a longtime Washington tax lobbyist who was confirmed to lead the Office of Tax Policy in June 2025. He also served as acting chief counsel to the IRS.

More than a dozen Democratic senators said Kies was forced out of Trump’s Republican administration after “raising concerns about those potential violations” in a letter addressed to Heather M. Hill, the Treasury Department’s acting inspector general for tax administration.

“If recent reporting is accurate and Mr. Kies did in fact advise White House officials of such risks, it is gravely concerning that this administration chose not only to ignore the IRS’ top legal adviser, but to fire him for attempting to follow the law and protect taxpayers,” the lawmakers said.

The White House, which confirmed Kies’ departure, sent The Associated Press an email statement that Kies was not a team player and was difficult to work with. Neither Kies nor the IRS responded to AP requests for comment.

The rule barring executive influence over directing tax audits came out of the Watergate scandal, in which President Richard Nixon, a Republican, discussed using the IRS against political opponents and groups on his administration’s “enemies list.”

Its unclear what taxpayer audits prompted Kies’ concerns over White House influence. However, Kies previously recused himself from tax matters involving Trump due to his prior work as Trump’s private lawyer.

Separately, lawmakers have questioned a settlement agreement to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over the 2018 leak of his tax returns to The New York Times. The settlement, forged in May between Trump and his own government, includes a provision under which the IRS agrees to drop all pending probes of Trump over whether he’s paid his fair share of taxes.

The U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization’s current tax filings, according to a one-page addendum.